Killzone (Game)
Killzone is a squad-based, first-person shooter for the PlayStation 2. Set in the 24th century during a period of planetary colonization, Killzone captures the intense reality of warfare between the Interplanetary Strategic Alliance and a militaristic separatist faction called the Helghan Empire. Featuring four playable characters each one will alter the way the player goes through the mission level. Killzone provides several gameplay modes including single-player, multiplayer (team based and competitive) and online play for up to 16 players. Players can equip themselves with an armory of more than 27 different weapons inspired from today's modern weaponry. In particular, there are 21 first-person weapons that the player can carry, five emplaced weapons, and hand grenades. More than 11 intricately detailed environments showcase the harsh setting of a war-ridden planet, coupled with a unique graphical style designed to capture the grit and realism of intense military engagements. Plot The game is set in an era of space colonization where the Helghan Empire has recovered from its defeat in the First Extrasolar War and launched a blitzkrieg against the outer ISA colony planet Vekta. Vekta's orbital Strategic Defense (SD) platforms failed during the initial assault, allowing the Helghast to land swarms of soldiers onto the surface. This makes it all the more difficult for the outnumbered ISA forces. In the game, the Helghast are a faction of human descendants who colonized the planet Helghan many generations ago. The planet's harsh environment forced the Helghast to adapt and mutate so much that they can no longer be considered human. They are stronger, faster and more resilient than their cousins, and possess a burning hatred for humanity. Except for a small number of half-breed Helghast, the few social elite born commanders and some trained troopers, they all require a gas mask and air processing tank that creates air similar to the planet Helghan's atmosphere for long term period away from the planet. Unprepared, outnumbered and outgunned, Vekta's only hope rests with an elite squad of four soldiers who will turn the tide of the war. As the climactic war razes across Vekta, Templar allies himself with troops on the outskirts of Vekta City, desperately repelling endless waves of besieging assaults from the imperious Helghast forces, but are eventually driven into a defensive retreat. Accessing the ISA emergency HQ after surviving an onslaught that left ISA forces decimated and scattered, Templar communicates with General Vaughton and gathers intelligence to rescue a half-human half-Helghast spy called Colonel Hakha who possesses sensitive intelligence. Unknown to the ISA ground troops however is that General Adams is an inside agent operating for the higher Helghast ranks, swayed by power. While progressing through the ruins of the ISA's HQ, Templar finds only massacred remnants of his shattered ISA forces as the Helghast ruthlessly exert supremacy, their almost omnipresent forces savagely tearing through the ISA. Templar then unearths that the HQ was abandoned after being overrun, and he is saved from a Helghast sniper by ex-girlfriend Shadow Marshal Luger who aids him. Their progress through the parks is reduced to an unsteady crawl when they find a huge company of heavily-armed Helghast troops massing in ranks. However they are rescued by an ISA soldier named Sergeant Rico Velasquez who after helping rescue General Vaughton, reveals that his platoon were decimated and he is baying for revenge. The trio of soldiers eventually rescue Hakha but a fragile peace holds as Rico, riveted with suspicions, expresses an open dislike for the spy. A series of brutal and bloody skirmishes rifling through the docks sees the ISA unit survive another barrage of devastating battles where upon Hakha learns that Adams is the traitor. Up on the SD platform, Adams uses the SD platform's security keys to re-activate the weapons systems before murdering Vaughtan. With full command of the platform, Adams turns the firepower against the surface of Vekta. On the ground, the four elite soldiers push on through jungles and over arctic mountains, ranging from different extremes as the embattled group faces the wrath of the Helghan army. With each staggering blow, Adams' position is undermined by his increasing failures to eliminate the rogue group moving swiftly through Vekta. The ISA unit progresses through Vekta, and they find ISA troops in scattered pockets desperately waging resistances, but their progress continuously unravels Adams' military strategies. With defeat almost imminent despite their valiant efforts, the ISA unit hacks into a Helghast ship that carried them into the SD platforms in space. Facing thickened flocks of Helghast soldiers, the ISA unit attempts to destabilize the platform with various assignments and eventually succeeds, with Templar fatally wounding Adams. As they escape, it ends with Rico and Hakha asleep and Luger and Templar contemplating the battles yet to be fought, with the Helghast plotting further attacks. Characters *Captain Jan Templar *Sergeant Rico Velasquez *Colonel Gregor Hakha *Shadow Marshal Luger Weapons In Killzone you will have a number of weapons at your disposal. Even though you play on the ISA's side in the game you will be able to use both the ISA and Helghast military's weapons. You will find that weapons of the ISA and the Helghast army are both equally lethal but have their use in different situations. 'ISA' *'LS13 Semi-Automatic Shotgun' A standard ISA pump-action shotgun, the LS13 is extremely lethal at close range. It carries 8 rounds and can fire one or two shells. *'M194 Percussion Grenade' This is the only grenade in Killzone, and does a high amount of damage. Upon pulling the pin, a fuse is lit and the grenade uses lights to count to 5. Once all five lights are lit the grenade then explodes. Due to its tendency to catch Helghast soldiers off-guard, it is nicknamed the "Door Knocker". *'M224 MOMAG' A standard ISA mounted machine gun, this weapons is powerful but prone to overheating. *'M224-A3 Heavy Support Weapon' This heavy behemoth does not run on magazines, but is belt fed. Like the MOMAG, it still overheats, but has a much higher damage output and a rocket-launcher attachment. Sergeant Rico Velasquez used this weapon. *'M32 Combat Knife' This 'combat knife' is jokingly referred to as a 'toothpick' by regular ISA troops that are unaware of its effectiveness in the hands of Shadow Marshals. Shadow Marshal Luger is known to have used this weapon. *'M327 Grenade Launcher' This grenade launcher fires 40mm percussion grenades in either percussion or proximity modes. It has a 6 round drum magazine and the percussion mode is similar to the under-slung grenades on the M82, the only difference is a smaller blast radius. The proximity mode can bounce unless it hits a soft target, like a Helghast soldier. It is nicknamed "Thumper" by ISA troops. *'M4 Semi-Automatic Pistol' Standard sidearm of the ISA. It has a 7 round magazine and fires single rounds. It has more stopping power than its Helghast counterpart, hence the nickname "Bull Stopper". Captain Jan Templar and Sergeant Rico Velasquez used this weapon. *'M404 Missile Launcher' This missile launcher fires single missiles in either dumb-fire or laser-guided mode. It is lighter and easier to transport than its Helghast counterpart, and is nicknamed the "Drainpipe" by ISA troops. *'M66-SD Submachine Gun' This sub-machine gun is an effective assassination and close-quarters battle weapon, and is the main weapon of the Shadow Marshals along with the M32. It has a 30 round box magazine and is silenced in semi-auto mode. In full-auto it is not silenced. A single well-aimed shot from semi-auto to the head or neck will take out any Helghast soldier. Due to its silencer, it is nicknamed "Silent Death" by the Shadow Marshals. Shadow Marshal Luger is known to have used this weapon. *'M82-G Assault Rifle' Standard weapon of the ISA. It has a box magazine that carries 30 rounds, which is loaded into the rear of the gun in a bullpup configuration. Its accuracy decreases during automatic fire, but short burst firing can be effective at mid to long range. It is fitted with a single shot grenade launcher as secondary fire which is useless against a heavily armored vehicle but aimed right could guarantee a one hit kill to any light armored personnel. Captain Jan Templar is known to have used this weapon. 'Helghast' *'BDL-23 Dohvat Laser Designator' A regular laser designator, the Dohvat will paint an area with a laser. The painted area comes under heavy fire within seconds. The battery has enough power for 16 designations before reloading. *'BLR-06 Hadra MRL' The heaviest portable weapon in the Helghast army, this beastly rocket launcher has three rocket tubes. The rockets can be fired in either a single fire or can be fired all at once. When all three are fired at once, they arc and spread out, causing a large explosion that will kill or injure anyone who isn't in cover around it. This is the deadliest anti-vehicle weapon in Killzone. *'BP-02 Pup Grenade Launcher' Peculiarly looking like a revolver, the "Pup" is really a single-shot concealable grenade launcher. The grenade it fires is utterly devastating to any Helghast that may be encountered. *'EAW25/4 Chimera Heavy Weapons Platform' This is a Helghast flak cannon designed to control the airspace over Helghan-controlled territory. Liquid hydrogen circulates through the barrels, eliminating overheating, allowing the Chimera to fire until the target is destroyed. *'FSK-7 Fury Combat Knife' This "combat knife" is more of a light axe than anything. The blade is weighted to increase the power of hacking and slashing enemies. *'IvP-18 Tropov Machine Pistol' This machine pistol carries 18 rounds stored in a cylinder magazine below the barrel of the gun. The weapon can fire in either burst fire or single-fire modes. *'Pnv-3 Siska Squad Cannon' This huge behemoth is a super-large equivalent of the recoil-less rifle. Servo-operated gyro-mount allows it to fire heavy anti-tank rounds while still being man-portable. It has six rounds. Like the ISA shotgun, it can fire one or two rounds at time. However, the two round shots arc in a manner similar to that of the BLR-06, but they have less of an arc and a bigger spread pattern. *'StA-3 Stova Light Machine Gun' The Stova uses the same style magazine as the LAR, only larger, carrying 100 rounds. Powerful and rapid-firing, but lacks accuracy. *'StA-52 LAR' This gun is a Light Assault Rifle, as the name implies. It uses a smaller variation of the magazine used on the Stova LMG, instead having 50 rounds. Like the M82-G with its grenade launcher, the LAR has a shotgun with a maximum of 8 rounds. The shotgun, however, must be reloaded after each shot. Gregor Hakha is known to have used this weapon. *'StA-52 SLAR' This gun is a Sniper/Light Assault Rifle, as the name implies. It is a variation on the modular StA-52 platform with a scope and is extremely accurate over long ranges. Like the other Helghast weapons, it uses a 6-round cylindrical magazine. *'VnD-10M Siren Mounted Grenade Launcher' A mounted grenade launcher, this weapon has similar feeding and cooling mechanisms as the Scylla. *'VnS-10 Scylla Mounted Machine Gun' A mounted machine gun, this weapon has similar feeding and cooling mechanism as the Siren. Vehicles None of the game's vehicles are operable by the player. ISA *ISA Lancer Wheeled IFV *ISA Fighter Bomber Helghast *Helghast Jetbike *Helghast hover APC *Helghast Sentry Drone *Helghast Light Hovertank *Helghast Heavy Hovertank *Helghast Assault Boat *Helghast Overlord Dropship *Helghast Fast Attack Boat Glitches *In the Main menu, if the player choose the profile and turn back quickly, can disable the music. This will sound again when the player go to select a profile. *Press the sprint button, release and immediately keep pressing circle (switch weapon). If done correctly you will keep on sprinting without running out of stamina (Also works in the HD version). *In level 8, (Forging a Path) your character uses a Laser Designator to call in artillery strikes against the Helghast. Particularly since it's daytime, the orange scope makes seeing the enemy all the more difficult, and you can't see as far. To get rid of it (And make it easier to see) equip the weapon in the weapon cycle that's before the Laser Designator (So that when you press O it will switch the Laser Designator). Press O to switch to the Laser Designator and immediently sprint forward (L3 is to sprint). If done correctly, the orange tinted overlay should be gone (Also works in the HD version). *Rico's head may disappear during gameplay in Killzone, to fix this, pause the game for a couple of seconds or look away from him for a awhile. (Also in the HD version) *On level 3 (New Allies Section 2 - "Park"), the ground may disappear, however, you can still walk on the disappeared ground as if the ground was still there. This makes it easier to spot helghast. (Only for the original PS2 version). Reception Killzone received mixed to positive reviews from magazines and websites. PSM stated that Killzone is "Graphically stunning and hits the mark in so many ways, it's baffling; they promised us we'd experience future war, and we have...and come away shaking." Other reviewers cited technical problems with Killzone, including inconsistent AI, occasional bugs, frame-rate issues, distracting graphical glitches, repetition of the same voices, short draw distance, and an awkward control system. Critics also complained about the gameplay, with IGN labeling it "underwhelming and mediocre" and Into Liquid Sky stating that it "needs more refinement". Sarcastic Gamer's "How to Kill a Brand" (parody of How to Save a Life) criticized Killzone, saying it didn't deserve a sequel. Reviewers such as GameSpy claimed that Killzone partly suffered due to the incredible publicity it received before release, raising expectations only for them to go unfulfilled. Despite this, Killzone was admired for its sound effects, its soundtrack, and its presentation of a gritty war zone; it was also credited for its unique hard sci-fi art design. Gallery Killzone - Demo Video Killzone (PS2) - Main Menu without Music (Glitch) Trivia * An emulated version of Killzone was set to be released on the PlayStation Network on January 24th, 2012 for the PlayStation 3, but was later delayed indefinitely. It eventually appeared as a HD remaster supporting 720p resolution and contained trophy support, released on November 2nd, 2012 as part of the Killzone Trilogy bundle, or for separate download from the Playstation Store. It can also be bought in a bundle with InFamous: Festival of Blood. * Killzone was originally slated as a Halo Killer by Sony. However, the developers have stated that they never intended it to be a Halo Killer, but merely as a good game. The moniker of Killzone being a Halo Killer was due to false marketing. es:Killzone pl:Killzone ru:Killzone_1 Category:Killzone Category:Games Category:Guerrilla Games